President Zelensky: Ukraine suffered over $0.5 trillion of losses since the war started

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited foreign countries to take part in Ukraine’s reconstruction, as the war unleashed by Russia has already caused over $0.5 billion worth of losses to Ukraine.

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“We offer the world to set a precedent for rebuilding the country after the war, which will show everyone who dreams of destroying the life of a neighbor that the war doesn’t bring the expected result. I invite you to take part in this reconstruction. The amount of work is enormous. We have more than half a trillion dollars in losses. Tens of thousands of objects were destroyed. We need to rebuild entire cities, entire industries. And we offer a special – historically significant – model of reconstruction. When each of the partner countries or partner cities or partner companies will have the opportunity – historical one – to take patronage over a particular region of Ukraine, city, community or industry,” Zelensky told.

In his words, many countries have already chosen a specific direction for patronage in reconstruction.

“Thanks to this model of relations, post-war reconstruction can be fast, efficient and high-quality. And this will not only attract the world’s best specialists – architects, engineers, builders, developers, managers and others. It will also be the largest opportunity for economic leap in Europe since World War II,” Zelensky noted.

The President of Ukraine expressed gratitude to Switzerland for an international conference in Lugano, scheduled for July 2022, which will be dedicated to Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction. Zelensky expressed hope that partner countries and most of the world’s leading companies will have their packages of proposals formed by the beginning of this conference.

According to Zelensky, there must be a precedent of punishment for the aggressor and investment in a peaceful life.

“Russian assets scattered in different jurisdictions must be found, arrested or frozen, and then confiscated and sent to a special Fund, from which all victims of this war can receive compensation. Of course, this is not easy. But, after that there will be no motivation left for the various aggressors to do what Russia has done and continues to do. If the aggressor loses everything, it definitely deprives him of motivation to start a war,” the President of Ukraine stressed.

A reminder that the World Economic Forum is taking place in Davos on May 22-26, 2022.

Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine

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